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IT Service Management, Service Desk Desk and Support Center Services

Its no secret that in today’s world of global competition, exceptional IT service and support lays the foundation for organizational success. With over 70 years of combined experience in technology service and support, no one understands this better than the senior consultants at Optimal Connections.

The consultants at Optimal Connections have been helping business and organizations improve in all areas of IT service delivery – in the way they manage people, in helping organizations improve the level of process maturity, and assisting service providers with the effective use of technology. Are you in need of targeted training to boost the effectiveness of your analysts, team leads or managers? Then check out our service desk and specialized skills-based training. Has your organization made the strategic decision to adopt ITIL as your IT service management framework? Then check out our ITIL Foundation and ITIL Intermediate level training to bring your staff up to speed.

Like many organizations today, you may be looking at implementing DevOps as the methodology to realize closer collaboration between development and IT operations. If so, please review and enroll in our DevOps Awareness or DevOps Fundamentals training. Perhaps you need a Service Desk or Support Center Assessment to get a professional assessment of your front line support and IT operations, to identify opportunities and launch plans for solid improvement. Optimal Connections is also certified by HDI to conduct HDI Support Center Certification audits, and in achieving compliance against the HDI Support Center Standard, your support center can earn a badge of distinction in the service and support industry!

Whatever your goals, we’ll help your IT organization and support center get to where you need to it be – so you can wow customers, exceed expectations, and build that all important customer loyalty!

Expert ITIL Certification Training

ITIL Training and CertificationIT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has become the de-facto global standard in terms of best-practices for IT organizations. Interested in getting your executives briefed, ITIL Awareness training, or a solid grounding in ITIL Foundations? Our instructors are ITIL V3 Expert certified, with years of hands-on experience in IT service and support.

DevOps Training and Certification

DevOps Awareness and DevOps Fundamentals Certification TrainingDevOps is the future of IT today! Based on the DevOps Agile Skills Association (DASA) Competency Framework, we offer a 1 day DevOps Awareness training course , as well as a 3-day fundamentals course on DevOps. DevOps, very simply, is the cultural and professional movement that stresses communication, collaboration, integration and, of course, automation in order to improve the flow of work between software developers and IT operations professionals. To maximize the IT value flow to customers, DevOps creates an improved ability to design, develop, deploy and operate software and services faster for the benefit of the business. Higher customer satisfaction, better quality, faster delivery and lower costs are all benefits of DevOps. >> To learn more, visit DevOps Training

HDI Support Center Analyst, Team Lead and Manager Training

HDI Certification Training
Boost the communications, problem solving and customer care skills of your Service Desk Analysts, Team Leads and Managers with HDI Certification Training. Tier 1, 2, lead and manager training available! As Certified Instructors of HDI, we provide you with official HDI courses that will prepare your staff to deliver the best in service & support. Classes offered include in-depth skills based training for customer care reps, support center analysts, team leaders, and support center/service desk managers.

Classes include Customer Service Representative (CSR), Support Center Analyst (SCA), Support Center Team Lead (SCTL), Support Center Manager (SCM), and Technical Support Professional (TSP) Certification. >> To learn more, visit our HDI Certification Training page.

Team and Skills-Building Workshops

Targeted Half-day Service Desk Skills-Building WorkshopsDon’t have enough time to send your service desk or IT support staff to one or two days of training? Looking for skills-building courses focused on specific, targeted areas you need help with? We have just what you are looking for! Targeted 1/2 day training workshops include Effective Communications, Building Effective Teams, Conflict Resolution, and Effective Stress Management. >> For more information visit our page on Skills Building Workshops.

Online Self-Paced Training Portal

Check Out Our Portal of Online Self-paced Training
Your destination for easy, cost-effective, quality online learning for IT best-practices. Our online course offerings complement our live instructor led training, and include ITIL Awareness, ITIL Foundation and other courses. Online courses are ideal for busy IT managers as well as operational IT staff.

ITSM Consulting, Best Practice Assessments, and Audits

Support Center/Service Desk AssessmentWondering where the opportunities are for improvement? Not sure where you should start? Why not schedule start with a professional 3rd party assessment of your IT Service Desk or Customer Support Center? Our Support Center Assessment is a cost-effective way to identify opportunities for improvement, pinpoint areas of strength, and get a road map for the future. We provide specific recommendations for improvement, so you can get right to work addressing those areas that need attention most – boosting performance, lowering operational costs, and raising employee and customer satisfaction! >> Learn about Support Center Assessments.

HDI Support Center CertificationWhat makes your support center stand out from the competition? What makes your service desk or support center any different from the rest? Although you may be successful in attracting customers, engaging them, and selling products or services, you won’t be successful in the long run unless you deliver quality customer service that sets you apart. HDI Support Center Certification benchmarks your support center against HDI world-class standards, allowing you to differentiate your center from competitors and demonstrate to customers your commitment to excellence! >> Learn about getting HDI Support Center Certified.

IT Service Desk and Support Center ConsultingAre there opportunities to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and service quality in your service desk or support center, while reducing costs and increasing revenue? Our service desk and support center consulting solutions will help you optimize your IT and support center performance. Whether it’s a specific functional area you’d like us to examine, or a process area that you feel is under-performing, we have the expertise and experience to advise you. Engage us and watch us exceed your expectations! >> Learn about our IT and Support Center Consulting services.

Why Choose Optimal Connections?

We are a small but very formidable team of IT industry experts, with considerable experience in consulting and implementation concerning IT Service Management (service strategy, service design, transition, and operations); IT support center analyst and management skills development; and IT service management best practices. Not only do we have the credentials and experience you can count on – we are committed to excellence and to your complete satisfaction! Optimal Connections is very active in leading industry organizations such as…

AXELOS – Optimal Connections is an AXELOS Affiliate. AXELOS is the owner manager of the ITIL framework, and global set of best practices for IT. Paul has written articles and white papers for AXELOS. Learn more at the AXELOS web site.

PeopleCert – Optimal Connections is also an Affiliate of PeopleCert, the official testing agency for AXELOS that processes and manages certification exams for ITSM and the ITIL framework. Learn more at PeopleCert’s web site.

IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) is a global organization of IT professionals that promote best-practices in IT Service Management. To learn more, visit the ITSMF USA web site.

HDI (aka the Help Desk Institute). Paul is an HDI Auditor, Faculty member, and key contributor to HDI Standards. Paul teaches nearly all the HDI courses, and more information about him can be found on HDI’s web site.

IT Service Management, Help Desk and Support Center Services

… from Optimal Connections, LLC

ITIL® is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved. The Swirl logo™ is a trademark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved.

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HDI Support Center Analyst

“With Mr. Paul’s long experience in different sectors relevant to the course, it was full of practices and examples to show how the material can be reflected in real life. He conducted many exercises within the course to ensure that we’re getting the ultimate value of the course. Very knowledgeable” Support Center Analyst, Los Angeles, July 2018

HDI Support Center Manager

“Paul was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. He went through all of the important topics of the course and ensured we understood them before continuing. The activities were great, such as developing ways to improve certain processes; and he made them fun and easy to understand.” Support Center Manager, Los Angeles, July 2018

ITIL Awareness

“Paul Dooley provided an 8-hour ITIL overview training to my division. We were specifically looking for a curriculum that would cover ITIL basics within a one-day format, and Paul delivered. Paul made holding the training easy for us by setting his expectations for classroom clearly, providing class handouts for participants both in soft and hard copy format, and following up after the training with additional materials. His teaching style was rich in detail and balanced with the right amount of participation and questions. Our staff came away with a basic understanding of key ITIL principles, allowing our organization to begin conversations about change with everyone speaking the same language. I highly recommend Paul to any others for ITIL training needs!”​
Tom Benton, Chief Technology Officer, Sierra College, CA. March 2017

ITIL Foundation

“I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to train us on ITIL concepts. We not only passed the test, but have gained a good understanding of the ITIL framework to apply and use in our department. We are actively working on getting a Service Catalog published so that our users know what we offer and have matching expectations.Hope to learn more from you in the future!”
Aisha Mir, Sr. Systems Administrator at Thales Avionics. ITIL Foundation. May 2015.

“This is the best instructor that I have had in years. He is very knowledgeable. Keep this instructor please.” Elvia Hernandez, Service Desk, Tinker Air Force base. ITIL Foundation, Jan 2018.

ITIL Service Design

"The class went extremely well. Paul is bright, knowledgeable, & competent. Paul kept it lively, never read from the slides (amazing!), provided good context & anecdotes, was able to answer questions very well. I’d eagerly take another course from Paul."
Jimmy May, MCM. Microsoft, MSIT Principal Architect, Database. ITIL Service Design. March 2014

ITIL Service Operation

"You are an outstanding instructor, and I really learned a great deal. Thank you so much for the practical examples you provided"
Alan Estrada, Desktop Support Manager - Bio-Rad. ITIL Service Operation, April 2013.

HDI Certification Training

HDI Support Center Manager

“I’m glad we were able to interact with other people from different companies and get some good ideas to successfully structure our work atmosphere.” Julie A. Gutierrez, City of Hope – April 2012

Support Center Assessment

“I was impressed with the cost-effectiveness of the online support center assessment. We were able to identify several areas where we exceeded HDI standards, and some where we need to focus our efforts. Well worth the investment.” Dan Pasquerilla – Manager, Programs Office, Global Learning and Support Services, QAD.

HDI Support Center Certification

“Thank you for your diligence and thoughtfulness in your auditing of our Call Center. We were very pleased with our score and felt the comments made where we did not meet a specific standard were insightful and right on target.” HDI Certified – 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012. Elizabeth Henson, Intergraph Solutions Center

ITIL Service Strategy

“I think you for instructing the ITIL SS class this past week. The ITIL education is valuable to me in a way of better understanding our business practices, the decision processes and opportunities for improvement.” Veronica Heans, Shared Servies, Canada, ITIL Service Strategy, Dec. 2017.

“It was a pleasure taking your course. I learned a lot of useful information that I can immediately use for our ITSM initiatives.” Lorena Mora- Martinez, Manager Enterprise Architecture, Information& Technology Services, Chicago Public Schools. ITIL Service Strategy, Dec. 2017.

Online Training Portal

Convenient, low cost onlne training

Your destination for easy, cost-effective, quality online learning for IT best-practices. Our online training complements our live instructor led training, and includes ITIL Awareness, ITIL Foundation, DevOps and other courses. Ideal for busy managers and IT staff, available 7 x 24, on-line, on-demand, right to your desk.